26 Participants receive certificates
An ACC Level 1 Cricket Coaching Course was conducted by Kuwait Cricket on behalf of Asian Cricket Council (ACC). The course was run by the Coaches Panel of Kuwait Cricket in accordance with the Asian Cricket Council for development of local cricket coaches and instructors within the operating country.
Famed international cricketer and ACC Development Officer Iqbal Sikander was the main instructor and course supervisor who flew in specially to present the course. The course was coordinated by the KC Director for Coaching Sameer Desai who is a Level 3 coach. Sameer was a co-instructor and with him senior Level 2 Kuwait Cricket coaches Kaleem–ul–Hassan, Arjuna Amaratunga and Tariq Rasool provided parallel instructional and valuable field support. The course was held at the KOC Ahmadi Cricket grounds and pavilion.
Participation for the Level 1 cricket coaching course was widely advertised in the local media and Kuwait Cricket website which received a tremendous response. Due to limited space an initial list of nearly 67 applicants was filtered down. The candidates were further shortlisted to 26 final participants based on the eligibility criteria and course requirements. There was a careful and thorough review of all applicants considering fitness, knowledge and playing experience, and assurance of service to Kuwait Cricket and the game in general towards development of promising young cricket players in Kuwait. Priority was also given to school teachers who are one of the key sources of education. Among the final candidates three women participants were also selected who sweated it out equally and competitively with the rest. All three of them have represented Kuwait national teams in the ACC tournaments in the past, two of them being national U-19 players.
The last day of the course was the assessment day where all participants had to go through various formats of assessment to evaluate their presentation, communication and cricket coaching skills. Participation certificates were handed to all the candidates at the end by Kuwait Cricket Director General Asad Baig along with Iqbal Sikander, KCUP Director Riaz Choudhary and KOC cricket committee General Secretary Mohammad Sarwar. Kuwait Cricket Executive Council Chairman Jeff De Lange also spoke to all the participants during the course welcoming them and explaining the value of this important extra curricular education which will enhance their skills as players and instructors.
Final course results will be announced by the ACC wherein all successful candidates will receive a Level-I Coach accreditation certificate. The top of the class will be nominated to attend the ACC sponsored Level 2 course which will be held in one of the ACC countries within the next 6-12 months. These successful candidates will be rubbing shoulders with similar successful top candidates from the ACC countries in the region.